SB 221

This bill modifies ambulance staffing requirements to allow a certified

respiratory care practitioner to fulfill a required staffing position on an ambulance

for the transport of pediatric patients from one hospital to another when the

ambulance is an aircraft.

Current law imposes certain staffing requirements when sick, disabled, or

injured individuals are transported by ambulance, either by air or ground. In

general, under current law, an ambulance may be staffed with any of the following:

any two emergency medical services practitioners, licensed registered nurses,

licensed physician assistants or physicians, or any combination of those individuals;

one emergency medical services practitioner plus one individual with an emergency

medical services practitioner training permit; or, for certain rural ambulance service

providers, one emergency medical technician and one emergency medical responder.

Current law provides an exception to these requirements to allow a certified

respiratory care practitioner to fulfill one of the staffing positions on the ambulance

when the ambulance is a fixed-wing airplane and the patient is a pediatric patient

being transferred from one hospital to another hospital. The bill expands the scope

of that exception to cover any type of aircraft transporting a pediatric patient from

one hospital to another.